17th APRiL ~ HISTORY ON THIS DAY

April 17th ~ This Day in History video by History.com ~ 1970 : Apollo 13 returned to Earth : Apollo 13 the U.S. lunar spacecraft that suffered a severe malfunction on its journey to the moon, safely returned to Earth on the 17th April 1970. On the 11th April the 3rd manned lunar landing mission was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying astronauts James A. Lovell, John L. Swigert, and Fred W. Haise. The mission was headed for a landing on the Fra Mauro highlands of the moon, but 2 days into the mission, 200,000 miles from Earth, disaster struck when oxygen tank No. 2 blew up in the spacecraft. Swigert reported to mission control on Earth, “Houston, we’ve had a problem here.” The normal supply of oxygen, electricity, light, and water had been disrupted. The landing mission was aborted, and the astronauts and controllers on Earth scrambled to come up with emergency procedures. The crippled spacecraft continued to the moon, circled it, and returned back to Earth. | & more about history on this day in the video…